WCC keeping an open mind after adding Grand Canyon, Seattle U: ‘Everything will be on the table’
West Coast Conference commissioner Stu Jackson admitted that it won’t be easy figuring out how the league’s regular season schedule will look with 11 full-time members, after Grand Canyon and Seattle U agreed to join the conference starting in 2025. But that uncertainty hasn’t stopped Jackson from taking the 71-year-old league to a place it’s never been before. He’s actually embraced it.
Since taking over as the league’s commissioner in April 2023, a part of Jackson’s vision for the WCC has centered around the idea of consistently sending multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament. He’s taken significant strides in achieving that goal over the past six months by adding four schools, two of which (Washington State and Grand Canyon) advanced past the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in March. Seattle U has won at least 20 games in three straight seasons and was crowned the College Basketball Invitational champion this past season, while Oregon State was in the Final Four as recently as 2021.
The Cougars and Antelopes finished last season in the top 55 of KenPom’s rankings, behind only Gonzaga (12th) and Saint Mary’s (20th). Seattle U ranked 107th, a school record and two spots ahead of Santa Clara.
Not only has Jackson added talent, he’s done so without extending the WCC’s geographical footprint. Most realignment moves have seen some schools travel across the country for league play. With the exception of Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Arizona, all WCC schools are located in the Pacific Standard Time Zone.
“Our focus around partnering with schools in our geographic footprint was important,” Jackson said during a press conference Friday. “With adding these two markets, we are quickly becoming a WCC conference where your friends and family can actually see you play.”
Another important to-do on Jackson’s list was increase the league’s exposure. The first step toward that goal was extending the WCC’s partnership with ESPN to air 17 men’s regular season basketball games, six WCC men's and women's basketball championship games and four additional events across 16 other sports each year on ESPN+. After bringing in two schools that are centered in large media markets - Seattle (13th-biggest nationally) and Phoenix (11th) - Jackson has put the league in a position to exponentially grow in popularity.
Also consider the WCC added a school that doesn’t fit the traditional mold of its members. While Seattle U is a Jesuit university much like most of the WCC, Grand Canyon, a for-profit Christian institution, does not fit that criterion. That had hindered the program from joining the league in years past, but not anymore.
“I always felt that we would get there even at times when it looked like we were not going to galvanize this partnership,” Jackson said. “But you know, the right things have a way of emerging to the top and there have been multiple conversations had back and forth.”
Now the league just needs to take some time to figure out all of the nuts and bolts. Jackson alluded to the possibility of an 18-game regular season schedule during the WCC Tournament in March and has kept “everything on the table” when considering schedule changes and the possibility of splitting the soon-to-be 13-team league into two divisions.
“The short answer is I don't know,” Jackson said. “But given the fact that at least for one year, we'll be at 13 members, everything will be on the table scheduling wise.”
“We’ve really got to do a deep dive on what advantages of a division system would actually provide or not to determine whether or not that makes some sense, given that … having a group of schools all within the same geographical footprint is a little bit counter to the philosophy today of other conferences. So it gives us the flexibility to entertain the idea of divisions but also the ability to potentially maintain a full conference schedule.”
Nuances aside, Jackson has transformed the WCC in year one as the commissioner.
"We feel pretty confident that we can continue to be a multi-bid league," Jackson said. "And that's important not to only be in you know, the best conference in the West, but continue to strive to be one of the best conferences in America."
COLE FORSMAN
Cole Forsman is a reporter for Gonzaga Nation, a member of Sports Illustrated’s FanNation network. Cole holds a degree in Journalism and Sports Management from Gonzaga University.